<p>So I'm starting to save up for college right now but I'm not sure how much I'll need. I'm prob gonna save as much as I can but how much did u guys spend on books? How much do you spend on food a week/month? Just wanted to get a head start.</p>
<p>I am as mom and I spent about $300 on books for the semester for dd. She bought some used, some new and rented her expensive chemistry book. I think it would be safe to budget $400 for each semester for books and keep the money in there for those crazy expensive semesters. </p>
<p>I can not answer any other questions because you didn’t give enough information. Are you living on campus? Are you getting a meal plan? </p>
<p>My dd is living on campus and has to have a large meal plan. She has spent very little money on campus. She may have spent maybe $50 a month going off campus to do things. She doesn’t have to buy many things because her parents and grandparents keep her stocked.</p>
<p>Only 300-400? I thought textbooks were about 1000 dollars!</p>
<p>They can be that much but it depends. Some majors cost more for books. DD’s chemistry book was $200 new $118 used and $58 rented. $400 is for a semester so about $800 a year. This is assuming you going to try to get the lowest prices for your books. You certainly can spend a $1000 a semester just on books. You also need to think about all those costs to set up you dorm. I spent over $500 getting stuff for her room and I know it could have easily been more.</p>
<p>A friend of mine goes there and i’ve applied and am awaiting a decision. My friend budgets about $1000 per year on books. However, she gets a few of them on her IPad 2 rather cheap! I’ll probably give that a try as well because it gives you a good excuse to buy something cool 
You need a mealplan freshman year, nothing out of the ordinary. Her parents budget like 5 hundred bucks a month for shopping, eating out, ect. The few times i’ve been there and few people i’ve hung around seem to be in a similar situation. Obviously there are a lot of people living on a lot less and a lot more.</p>
<p>I get about $1300 a month for expenses including rent (which is $750/mo). I usually go through most of it but then again I eat out a lot and I also buy random crap. If I mostly cooked my meals and watched my other spending I could probably get by with $1000 a month.</p>
<p>I spent about $400 on books this semester,</p>
<p>I only have $130 to spend each month on everything (except books) from the money I earned working over the summer. As long as I watch my spending I manage, but if I want to buy something bigger it starts to get stretched so I would definitely bring more if you can. For books it’s cost me from $350-$700 a semester I think.</p>